Emma's Week Off
by TheOnlyOtaku
Summary: Emma's had particularly stressful week at work as the sheriff of Storybrooke. On top of that, she has caught something, probably from one the delinquents she had apprehended that week, and Regina is not making things any better. But while Mary Margaret is at work, the town's mayor could be the only person who can care for Emma in her time of need.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I got this idea while lying in bed listening to music, so here goes. Please leave a review and tell me what you thought.**

Emma growled in frustration. After she became sheriff, Regina managed to ruin her everyday-life even more as her new boss. She sat at her desk in the station staring at, by far, the largest pile of paperwork she had ever seen. Now normally, Emma knew what to expect from the mayor but it was Friday at 5:30PM and said woman had just left after dropping off the papers saying they were to be filled out and brought to her office the next morning. Emma had no intentions of staying late at work because, one, Friday was the night she set aside to have dinner with her roommate since they were both so busy, and two, since Wednesday Emma had not been feeling too hot and she was looking forward to enjoying her Saturday off work resting and relaxing. All this paperwork would take her late into the night, and that just would not do. That week for Emma had particularly stressful, what with the station's small staff, an abnormal spike in the small town's crime rate, and Regina just being more of a bitch than usual, Emma had been looking forward to the week finally ending so she could have a peaceful dinner with Mary Margaret and perhaps get at least one full night's sleep.

Emma, with her head in her hands, growled again into her palms. She pulled the pile in front of her and stared at the first page. She read the first paragraph three times without comprehending the words on the page not once. She sighed before getting up and going to the restroom. She looked in the mirror at her reflection. Her eyes were eclipsed by dark half-moons and her skin looked paler than usual. She felt like crap in general. _Maybe I've come down with something,_ she thought. _Regina_ has _to let me take sick days._ Emma bent down and turned on the faucet and splashed some cold water onto her face. She grabbed some paper towels and dried her hands and face before returning to her office to glare at the pile of papers.

Emma pulled her phone from her leather jacket pocket and unlocked it. She scrolled down through her contacts to the M's and selected Regina's name. She began typing a message and once she was finished, she collected all of her things and straightened up the office ignoring the large pile of paperwork on her desk then left the station after locking everything up. Just as she sat down in her beloved bug, her iPhone dinged in her hand with a new text message. From Regina, it read: _If you are indeed sick and require leave, then by tomorrow evening need an official doctor's note confirming you require leave and I'll also need the time you plan to be off work. Get well soon._ Emma couldn't that last sentence being sincere. But Emma really had a thing against doctors in general and had no idea what she was gonna do. _Why should I have to go to the doctor anyway?_ Emma thought. _Does she think I would lie about being sick? I swear she never treats me like an adult._ Emma drove home to the loft and was greeted by Mary Margaret in the kitchen making dinner. "Hey, Emma. How was your day?"

"Do you want me to be honest?"

"Yes?"

Emma put her jacket on the table and plopped face-down on the couch groaning into the pillows. Her roommate winced sympathetically," Was it that bad?"

"Yeah. Regina made it ten times worse right as I was getting ready to head home. She came to the station with this huge ass pile of paper work saying it had to be ready by tomorrow morning. I already feel like shit and staying late at work was not gonna help."

"What did you do about it? Obviously, you didn't stay because your here now."

"I texted her and told her I wasn't feeling well and she said that if I'm taking some time off she needs to see a doctor's note."

"I've called in sick before and have never been asked for one. I'm not even sure whether she's allowed to ask you."

"Why should I have to have her stupid paperwork finished by tomorrow morning anyway? It's my day off. She definitely can't be allowed to make me work on my day off."

"Maybe you should just skip dinner and go get some rest. You look like you really need it," Mary Margaret suggested.

"No, no, I can't do that. This is our night to finally just hang out since we both have crazy schedules," Emma reasoned.

"It's alright. I'll leave you some left overs in the fridge that you can have another time. I don't mind missing one dinner with you."

Emma sighed in resignation. She really was tired. "Ok. Thanks, MM. You're the best." Emma climbed the stairs to her bedroom and shut the door behind her. She changed into her nightwear which consisted of a tank top and a pair of large boy shorts. She snuggled into blankets finding a dreamless sleep easily.

* * *

Emma woke sometime after noon to the sound of her phone's ringtone and vibrations on her nightstand. She blindly reached out for it with her eyes barely opened to and put it to her ear to answer not bothering to check the ID. She rasped out a weak," Emma speaking," now very aware of a killer sore throat. "Miss Swan, it is almost noon and I have not seen the paperwork I gave to you yesterday evening on my desk. Care to explain?" All Emma could comprehend was that Regina was on the other end of the line. It took her a full five seconds to acknowledge what she actually said. "Well?" she asked impatiently.

After a poor attempt to clear her throat, the blonde rasped into the phone in a gravelly voice," I told you yesterday that I wasn't feeling well, and I don't know how you expected me to finish all that work in the thirty minutes I had left on my shift."

"I still require a doctor's note, Miss Swan."

"Why, Madame Mayor, whyyy?" Emma drawled out slightly out of breath.

"I'll speak to you later, Miss Swan," Regina said with subtle mirth. And with that last statement, the call ended. Emma groaned as loud as she could with her arm draped over her eyes. Tossing her phone the small distance back onto the nightstand, Emma uncovered her eyes. The sunlight streaming into her bedroom through the window made her hiss and cover her eyes again. She rolled over to get out of bed and succeeded in falling on the floor. The fall didn't hurt that much but she groaned again into her arms.

When she finally pushed herself off the floor after a good three minutes, she wobbled into the bathroom adjoining her room. Her reflection showed that she looked like she had gotten no sleep. Emma started the shower setting it to a pleasantly warm temperature before removing her nightwear and stepping in. The warm water seem to release some tension and after cleaning her body and washing her hair, she got out and put on some comfortable black sweatpants and a large, blank, red T-shirt. Emma flopped down onto her bed feeling completely drained. She could have laid like that all day if her stomach had not growled so loudly demanding sustenance.

Somehow surviving the struggle to the kitchen without collapsing, Emma discovered a small mountain of groceries and a paper bag from the pharmacy on the counter and note next to them. The note read, _Hey, Ems. I went out to the store and pharmacy to get you some things since you weren't feeling well. I'm sorry I couldn't stay home with you today, but I had some things to do and won't be back until around 3:00 this afternoon…_ The rest of the note entailed the purpose of some of the more extravagant things she bought and what to do with them. Emma made a mental note to praise Mary Margaret later for her care package. Following the directions, Emma had a bowl of chicken noodle soup for breakfast, took some medicine, and laid down on the couch with a bottle of Gatorade tucked under one arm.

* * *

She doesn't know when she fell asleep, but Emma looks at the clock above the TV in the living room and sees that it's well after 5 o'clock. Almost 6 actually. _Mary Margaret must still be out. Probably running around with David,_ she thought. She struggled to sit up, finding her muscles unusually stiff. She took a large swig of her fruit punch Gatorade to moisten her dry throat, then pushed herself off the couch to go use the bathroom. On her way out, Emma checked her phone to find that she had one missed call from Mary Margaret and five missed call from Regina. _Holy shit, I slept like a log! I am so screwed,_ Emma thought with a frown on her face. The blonde's thoughts were interrupted but five sharp raps on the door. Emma shuffled to the door to be greeted by a somewhat furious looking mayor standing with her arms crossed. "Re-Regina," Emma stammered and swallowed nervously. She felt her face grow warm just looking at the woman in her silver slacks and matching vest over a white long-sleeve blouse. The top three buttons were open revealing an acute amount of cleavage. _What the hell is wrong with me? And when did the room get so warm?_ "Miss Swan, I hope you have that note ready for me to see because I have not heard from you since noon."

"I-I, uh…" Emma was sweating bullets at this point. Her stomach was in knots but also churning at the same time. _Oh my God._ It was difficult to keep steady breaths in and out of her nose.

"Well? Care to explain yourself?"

"When y-you called this morning-"

"You mean this afternoon," Regina corrected.

"R-right. This afternoon when you called, I was just waking u-up. And I wasn't-wasn't feeling…feeling-" Emma was starting to feel lightheaded and her speech was slurring slightly. The room was positively spinning and Emma couldn't focus her vision on Regina anymore. Regina was saying something but Emma couldn't make out what it was. The room was already tilting. Then everything went black.

 **A/N: Cliffhangers. Sorry not sorry. Please leave a review and let me know if I should continue this. :3**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I am so sorry this took so long to update. I had originally planned to get this posted by Sunday, and well, it's Wednesday. Heh heh. I tried to finish this chapter yesterday, but I accidently lost about a quarter of the chapter and it couldn't be recovered because of my ignorance. Sorry! Anyhoo, please enjoy. :3**

Regina was on her way to the loft that her employee, the sheriff, shared with her son's teacher from the school. She had been irked by Emma's blatant disobedience of her specific directions. She had given her a task the evening before and she had tried to get out of it by complaining of a fictitious ailment. In all honesty, Regina had noticed Emma's poor appearance that week but assumed it was just her plan of overwhelming the sheriff working. She had hoped she could maybe get the blonde to quit along the way. But she knew that was just wishful thinking because the blonde was just too stubborn for that, and she was too stubborn to give up.

Regina had told Emma that if she was sick, she needed proof and that's exactly what she was going to get from the woman. It was either that or embarrass her for trying to slack off on her job by playing sick. She had entered the building already planning what she was say to Emma. She knocked on the door after checking the time on her watch. The door was answered almost immediately.

"Re-Regina…" Emma said looking the mayor up and down slowly.

With practiced confidence Regina said, "Miss Swan, I hope you have that note ready for me to see because I have not heard from you since noon." It was at this moment Regina actually took a good look at Emma to mirror the blonde's ogling of her body. Regina took in the T-shirt and the baggy sweatpants. Her eyes were sagging with dark circles under them and she was slouching as if struggling to stand up straight.

"I-I, uh." Regina had to hold herself together to keep from laughing the woman's face. The brunette noticed the blonde's face flush and nearly lost it then, assuming Emma was simply embarrassed already at being caught. Quickly regaining her composure Regina deadpanned, "Well? Care to explain yourself?"

"When y-you called this morning-"

"You mean this afternoon." It was then Regina _really_ focused on the younger woman and noticed her swaying on her feet.

"R-right. This afternoon when you called, I was just waking u-up. And I wasn't-wasn't feeling…feeling…" Emma had trailed off on her words and tipped forward forcing Regina to catch her. Even though the brunette acted quickly, the blonde still thumped her head on the door frame pretty hard on the door frame. Panicking, Regina half-dragged half-carried Emma over to the couch and laid her down on it. Looking around, she took off her heels and quickly shut the front door before turning back to the unconscious sheriff. Regina kneeled in front of the couch, pressing her index and middle finder to Emma's neck finding a fairly rapid pulse. Then she positioned her ear over her nose before sighing in relief that the blonde was still breathing.

The brunette relaxed a little bit, pressed the back of her palm to Emma's forehead, and pulled her hand back after discovering the younger woman's high fever. She went and grabbed an icepack, clean dishcloth, and water bottle from the kitchen. Emma was stationary on the couch, her face still moderately flushed. Her breathing came out in ragged breathes through her mouth. Regina wrapped the icepack in the cloth and carefully applied it to the quickly swelling knot on Emma's head, then she set the water bottle to the side.

Kneeling next to her on the floor, Regina sighed at the situation. She had thought Emma was lying about being ill, but evidently, she had been wrong. Panic started to really set in, and Regina wondered if she could get in trouble for the unfortunate events that occurred overall from the beginning of the week. She had been gradually giving Emma more and more work and neglected to give her leave when it was requested. Regina looked around at the décor of the room lost in thought. _I guess now she is technically not fit for work tomorrow or the rest of next week for that matter, she_ thought. _Where is that annoying little woman? Shouldn't she be here caring for her roommate?_ At this, the brunette noticed the note on the small coffee table. The note read: _I got back home and saw you resting on the couch, and I didn't want to disturb you. I had called before then but you didn't answer. I'm going out with David and I'll be spending the night at his place. I'll be back in the morning. See you then. –MM Well there's my answer,_ Regina thought.

* * *

Regina dozed off with her head resting on her arm on the couch. She snapped awake abruptly when she heard Emma quietly whimper and shift making the semi-melted icepack fall to the floor. The woman opened her eyes, after a moment to let them focus, to see Regina staring at her bewildered. "Regina? Why are you in my-?" Emma abruptly stopped. She swiftly leaped from the couch and dashed across the room with her hands glued over mouth nearly falling as she bounded into the guest bathroom. Not even bothering to close the door, the young blonde heave the little contents of her stomach into the toilet.

Regina was had absolutely no idea what to do. Carefully, she went into restroom and as if on instinct held back Emma's hair as she upchucked more from her stomach. She had her hands scrunched up into her abdomen seemingly in pain. Emma was apparently done, then just gasping for air. The brunette grabbed a small hand towel from a rack in the corner and wet it in the sink before squeezing out the excess droplets of water. She handed the damp towel to Emma who looked at her gratefully. Wiping off the bile from her mouth and tongue, she flushed the toilet and stood up on wobbly legs. She had to lean on the sink trying to gain her balance. Regina just stood in the doorway awkwardly not really knowing what to say. To say the least, she felt awful for the blonde. And more than sympathetic. Regina had felt this odd, emotional pang ring through her chest at seeing the beautiful mother of her son in such a state. _Beautiful? Where did this come from?_ Regina would lie to herself more often than most, but she did admire the blonde's beauty often. And by often, that would mean almost every waking moment of her day. She never let it distract her from what was important like running a town and caring for her son, but in the rare moments her mind was idle, the blonde found her way to the top of her thoughts, and this irritated Regina to no end.

Emma finally cleared her throat and rinsed the sour taste out of her mouth with water from the sink. Then she rinsed out the hand cloth, then she turned to Regina muttering a weak," Excuse me." The older woman quickly stepped out of the way outside of the bathroom with a curt," Of course." Emma shuffled out of the restroom back into the living room nearly falling. She would have definitely fell had Regina not caught her.

Time seemed to have stopped. Both women were staring at each other with bulging eyes. Emma broke the silence with a sigh. Regina had only ever been this close to the other woman when they were having one of their many feuds over Henry. Things usually got pretty heated between them when those occurred. Though recently that week, there had been few of those heated fights. There was always this odd energy between the women when they clashed. Though neither had acknowledged it nor would ever admit it if they did, both women were kind of addicted to that feeling. The feeling was exhilarating and neither wanted it to stop. It felt strongest whenever they were in each other's faces. Though this closeness felt different. Emma could faintly smell Regina's apple scented perfume, and the brunette could slightly smell the blonde's cinnamon scented shampoo. Both women's expressions were unreadable. They seemed to be searching for something in each other's eyes. Bright green orbs were locked with chocolate brown ones.

Regina came back to her senses, tensing up and breaking their impromptu staring contest and awkward embrace. Instead she opted for a firmer hold on Emma with an arm around her waist and her arm draped over her shoulder helping her the rest of the way back to the couch. "Is this okay?" she asked hesitantly.

"Yeah." Emma flopped down onto the couch ungracefully as opposed to the brunette who carefully sat down a safe distance from the blonde. "Regina, how did you get in my home?" the blonde finally managed to ask.

"I'll answer right after you tell me where you and Miss Blanchard keep your cleaning supplies," Regina said hopping back off the sofa.

"Under the sink in the kitchen," Emma supplied. Regina went to the provided location spotting exactly what she was looking for. Once back in the living room the brunette handed the blonde a bucket from the cabinet. Emma thanked her before motioning for the woman to sit next to her. Regina reluctantly sat down, errantly realizing this couch was _way_ more comfortable than her fancy, high end one at the mansion. Emma looked at her and she looked back. "Could you answer my question now?" Emma asked. She had found the water bottle and was slowly taking small sips from it.

"About," Regina glanced at her wristwatch," thirty minutes ago I had come by because I had assumed you were avoiding speaking with me about your ailment when I had called several times. When you answered the door you passed out in front of me." Regina decided not to mention she had let her bump her head on the wall. She bet the blonde probably had a splitting headache from her fall even though the swelling had went down.

"Oh," was all Emma replied.

"And your roommate left a note for you saying she will be spending her evening with Mr. Nolan," Regina added.

"Alright, thanks."

"…"

"… Regina?"

"Yes."

"Would you mind staying the night here with me?" Emma in all honesty didn't know why she had asked that of her boss. Maybe it was her subconscious projecting that she didn't want to be alone. Perhaps she liked Regina taking care of her. She would never be sure.

Regina on the other hand definitely didn't want to be alone. Though she would never admit it. She had been secretly hoping Emma would ask her to stay. Because the blonde definitely couldn't be alone in her condition, right? And Regina certainly had no other plans and her day off was Sunday. After being begged almost the entire week, Regina caved and let Henry spend the weekend with a friend. But not before doing background checks on both of his parents and using her occupation to check the boy's grades and behavior in school as well. She basically interrogated the poor kid when he came to pick up Henry from the mansion the evening before.

Staying the night with Emma certainly wouldn't be a problem. Breaking from her thoughts trying to rationalize her desire to have company with Emma, Regina answered, "Well it would be wrong to leave you in such a state, so I guess I can stay for the night. But I do not have my own sleepwear or toiletries."

"I don't know if you use any special lotions or creams and whatnot, but we keep three unused toothbrushes in the house and I'm sure I could give you something to sleep in."

"All right, thank you. I guess should feed you now since I'm going to be caring for you. Hopefully, you'll be able to keep it down. Do you have any foods suitable to consume while in your condition, such as chicken broth?"

"Um, Mary Margaret got me a bunch of stuff before she went out this morning and I think I saw some chicken broth in there."

"Perfect. I'll be right back," Regina stated before getting up off the couch.

"Thank you, Regina," Emma said with surprising earnest. Regina peered down at Emma for a split second before showing a small sincere smile. "You are welcome."

 **A/N: My goal was about 1,000 words, but it's about 2,000 now. (Le dramatic sigh) I guess I should clarify that this – if it wasn't already obvious – is an AU fic. It occurs about a few months after Emma become sheriff in Storybrooke. I'm still debating whether there is no curse or magic, so please, spam the reviews and let me know what you think I should do. Thanks for reading.**


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